Renacemento
by candybot
Summary: He left in search of a sanctuary. Can Niou find the answers to his questions? Sequel to Rewound.


A/N: Sequel to Rewound. It might be better to read that first. Or else you'll be wondering why Niou's where he is at the moment. And I apologize in advance if I butcher any one's character; it's been far too long since I've read/watched Tennis no Oujisama. And it's been a while since I've written anything either. Sorry!

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**Part I**

"Please? One more game!" The resident narcoleptic of Hyotei cried and begged at the knees of his idol, the self-proclaimed Marui Bunta.

Marui sighed, "Akutagawa-san, I..."

"Just one more please! And besides, I thought I told you to just call me Jirou." The blond scowled.

"Fine, Jirou-san. We've been playing for more than an hour already and I have a prior engagement I have to attend to."

The blond began to sniffle, "But this is…" Hiccup. "The only time…" Hiccup. "I can play…" Hiccup. "…With my idol!"

An awkward smile found its way onto Marui's face.

"Jirou-san. Um sorry, but I like girls."

Silence.

"What? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! This is strictly an admiration sort of thing…you know…" The narcoleptic's voice trailed off.

Silence.

"No! It's just-! I mean…Argh!" The blond scowled at Marui's wild assumptions and ran off home.

The red-head sighed out loud. Glancing at his watch, Marui noticed that it was way past the time mentioned in the letter and that there was practically no one around.

'_I hope this wasn't a sick joke by one of the club members.' He thought to himself._

Braving the chilly weather, Marui began to slowly walk home, the leaves falling from the trees and a cold winter wind blowing through the midnight sky.

0000000

As he looked up, Niou's eyes met the youths'.

The trickster gave out a chuckle, "The Echizen Ryoma?" He asked in mock-surprise.

"Hmph." The youth said nothing, resuming his consummation of the grape Ponta he held in his hand.

'What an odd fellow.' Niou thought to himself.

" Ah. Whatever floats your boat." He said aloud.

As Niou took in his surrounding area, it finally occurred to him that he was leaving Japan. He was leaving his home, his life, his unrequited love. His relatives asked no questions; Niou was old enough and wise enough to make decisions on his own. But as he gazed out the window, a rush of smoke roared from the plane's engine and the ground slowly began to disappear beneath the low morning clouds, Niou began to question his own actions. He questioned the hows and the whys. He questioned the consequences. He questioned his own state of mind.

The silence and the unfamiliarity amongst the two youths made Niou strangely calm. He had only met Ryoma once, at a tennis match, but other than that, they were complete strangers. Knowing nothing about the youth beside him other than the fact that they participated in tournaments against each other gave Niou a sense of relief: Echizen didn't know his character and therefore held no prejudices against the trickster.

He felt Echizen's gaze falling upon him.

"Yes?" Niou asked, "I suppose you want to know why I, the great trickster of Rikkai Dai, am sitting in the coach section of a plane bound for the U.S."

Echizen continued studying Niou's eyes, "Isn't the national tournament coming up?"

"Shouldn't you say that for yourself?" The trickster asked.

Echizen took a sip of his soda, "U.S. Open."

'_This little brat…'_

"Heh, Well I'm on vacation." Niou retorted, feeling strangely proud.

Echizen gave him a blank stare, "In the middle of the school year. Hmph. Mada Mada Dane."

'…_What? This little brat…Wait until I-'_

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**Bin Bong. Thank you for flying AIRJAPAN. We hope you enjoy your stay and please come again.**

Echizen turned his attention towards the youth sitting next to him. Niou's face had gone slightly pale.

"Oi."

Niou, jolted from his thoughts, scowled at the youth, "What?"

Echizen pointed to the masses exiting the plane. He motioned to Niou to gather his stuff.

'_Oh Shi-'_

_00000000000_

"Hey Echizen. You're a good kid. Thanks for letting me stay with you while I spontaneously plan my vacation." Niou thanked the younger youth.

Echizen merely gave him a blank stare, "Hmph. Mada Mada Dane."

'I know what you're thinking, kid. But I'll have you know that spontaneity never hurts!'

The two arrived at a small apartment complex, red-bricked and flowing with overgrown ivy.

"I guess you haven't gotten around to tending the garden amidst your tennis practice."

Echizen shifted his eyes towards Niou's, "It's fine if you stay outside."

"Wait, what?... No…I mean- Sorry."

They entered the apartment. It was small and mostly empty. Half-opened boxes stacked up in one corner and various magazines were strewn across the floor. The dusty atmosphere made Niou cough.

"Ugh, I guess you haven't been here in a while." He stated.

"You take the couch", Ryoma sifted through the cabinets, in search of cups.

"Thanks for your hospitality." The sarcastic nature of Niou's statement only resulted in an indifferent attitude from the tennis prodigy.

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The early morning sun crept into the darkness of Marui's room.

"Ugh." The red-head awoke with a grunt. Lying in his bed, he wondered about his so-called secret admirer. And then something came to him.

"Kirihara, you little f-"

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Vast blue sky above his head and the fresh morning air made Marui sleepy. He never particularly liked morning practice; He was always rudely interrupted from his dreams, especially from the good ones, like the one where he almost got his hands on the world's best strawberry cake. One thing he noticed, however, was the unnatural silence on the tennis courts.

"Hey!"

He heard a whisper.

"C'mere!" Jackal, Marui's doubles partner motioned for the bubblegum lover to follow him to the main court. There, he found Rikkai Dai's fearsome trio engaging in discourse whilst the rest of the club members stood in file. Marui hurried to his position.

Sanada Genchirou caught the youth shuffling to place, "Let's be here on time, shall we?"

Marui smiled sheepishly.

"Genchirou," the data-man, Yanagi began, "Statistically speaking, if we were to compare the number of times Marui has been late to practice to a normal distribution and apply the empirical rule, we can safely judge that the average number of times he'll be late will fall within one standard deviation of the average amount of times that he's rarely, if ever, on time which means, his exceptional lateness today had a 13.5% chance of occurring. Data doesn't lie."

Marui lowered his head to avert the vice-captain's dissatisfactory glare. Captain Yukimura, deep in thought, let out a sigh. However, he quickly gathered himself and faced the Rikkai Dai Fuzoku tennis club members.

"It's been brought to our attention," Yukimura slowly stated, "That Niou Masaharu has taken a temporary leave from school."

Whispers broke out amongst the members.

"As a result, he'll be unable to participate in the National Tournament. Therefore, as his replacement, Maeda-kun, will play in his stead."

Maeda Tsuyoshi's face paled, "I can't possibly…Captain Yukimura…" Maeda's gaze fell upon Yagyuu's. Yagyuu, deep in thought, knit his brows but gave no indication of disapproval.

'_Niou…? Left…?' Marui thought to himself, but it came to him- their dream._

"But the regulars…!" He shouted aloud, "We've been waiting forever for this! Painstakingly… everyday… We've worked so hard to be the best of the best!"

"Yagyuu!" Marui shouted, frustration propagating within his voice, "Say something! You know Niou better than any of us!"

Sanada glowered at the resident bubblegum lover, "Hold your tongue. Brashly shouting won't bring Masaharu back. His decision was made."

Silence fell upon the tennis courts. Marui, frustrated, dropped the subject. There was nothing to gain from provoking the Emperor.

"We're starting practice now. Dismissed!" The echo of Genchirou's strong voice rang throughout the courts.

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Clouds filled the misty evening. The lights flickering outside reminded Niou of the nights in Kanagawa. It reminded him of the many evenings he spent practicing under the moonlight, the hours he spent towards the dream that everyone aspired to obtain.

His eyes fell upon the drawn-out soap opera playing in front of him. He caught, out of the corner of his eyes, Echizen bustling about to and fro.

"Something going on?" He inquired.

"Relative's coming." Was the youth's answer.

Niou's eyes lit up at the sound of the doorbell, "I'll get it."

'_Better than lying around, I suppose.'_

When he opened the door, he was met face-to-face with a young woman. She gave out a surprised gasp, "Um…Ryoma-kun?"

Niou motioned for her to enter.

"And this is…?" The young woman started.

"A free-loader." Echizen answered, lounging upon the sofa all the while flipping through the various television channels. Niou sent the youth a glare.

She gave out a small chuckle, "Well, Mr. Freeloader. I'm Nanako Meino, Ryoma-kun's relative. It's very nice to meet you."

She extended her hand out for a handshake.

"The pleasure's all mine," Niou replied, "Niou Masaharu. Thank you for your hospitality."

"Hmph." Echizen muttered, taking a sip of his grape Ponta.

Nanako shook her head, "This little kid… "

"So, Masaharu-san," She started, moving about the kitchen, "What brings you here to the states?"

"Ah. Please, call me Niou." He replied, "I'm sort of…looking for some answers."

"I see…" Nanako handed him a cup of warm honey lemon tea, "Well, I hope you find whatever you're looking for soon. And please, we'll be glad to help in any way we can."

Nanako gave Niou a warm smile.

00000000

Marui bit his lips and tapped his fingers on the lockers impatiently. Throughout the whole day, it seemed everyone had been ignoring his inquiries. Marui, dejected and frustrated, began to change for practice. The door to the locker room swung open. In stepped the resident gentleman of Rikkai Dai, Yagyuu.

Marui, halfway done changing, faced Yagyuu, "Something's up. Tell me Yagyuu."

Yagyuu said nothing; instead, he continued to change into his uniform.

"Yagyuu!" A disgruntled Marui shouted, "Stop belittling the situation! You and I both know Niou's not idiotic enough to drop everything that we've worked for."

The gentleman stopped moving and directed his gaze towards the bubblegum lover.

His eyes were fervent with anger, "Don't you dare make such baseless assumptions, Marui."

With that he slammed the locker door and left a stunned Marui to his thoughts.

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To be continued...


End file.
